CNN, in an attempt to frame the gun debate as rational gun control advocates versus wild-eyed gun owners, posted two clips edited from the Ben Shapiro–Piers Moran wipeout, while at the same time posting the entire two-segment interview Morgan did with Alex Jones. This is by design; to many, Jones left an impression of a wild-eyed fanatic who couldn’t have a rational discussion, which made Morgan seem as though he represented the rational side of the argument. Shapiro, on the other hand, was even lauded by the Obama mouthpiece Washington Post as “a foe of extraordinary polemical agility.”

Thus CNN edited Shapiro’s takedown of Morgan into two smaller segments, here and here, while leaving Jones in toto here and here. Interestingly, the parts of the Shapiro interview CNN left to watch were the ones that focused on his defense of the Second Amendment as a bulwark against tyranny, leaving out a huge swath in the middle of the interview where Shapiro a) reiterated his query as to why Morgan wouldn’t challenge the ownership of handguns, thereby boxing Morgan into a corner, b) delineated steps he would take to target the problem of deranged killers having guns, c) had this classic moment where Morgan, was speaking of Adam Lanza:

SHAPIRO: Adam Lanza had two pistols on him. He didn’t just have an assault rifle.

MORGAN: He didn’t use them, as you know.

SHAPIRO: And if he hadn’t have had the assault rifle he wouldn’t have used them?

d) pointed out that if you can’t stop 12 million people illegally immigrating to the United States, how are you going to stop illegally obtained guns, e) showed the hypocrisy of the left in attacking the NRA for broadly interpreting the Second Amendment vis-à-vis guns while remaining silent about the ACLU broadly interpreting the First Amendment vis-a-vis violent video games, saying,

They are an interest group. If you want legislation passed, talk to legislators, don’t go to the NRA which is representing its membership.

f) refused to be lumped in with Alex Jones, g) retorted correctly that Morgan passed the buck by attributing the rise in gun sales to fear instilled by the Right when the real reason was Americans’ fear that the government intended to confiscate their guns, h) had the classic moment when Morgan invoked Ronald Reagan as his ally in his desire to restrict assault weapons, and Shapiro simply said, “Okay, so? I mean I can disagree with Ronald Reagan.”

In the long run, CNN isn’t fooling anyone. There are over 25 YouTube videos of the interview, with one having more than 500,000 hits, and others totaling roughly 100,000. By this time, everyone interested in the issue knows where to see the whole interview, and watch how one “foe of extraordinary agility” took on a bully of the left and demolished him.